We’re not here to judge, but we also argue that the other person will wonder later what went wrong and may still be offended or hurt-so don’t leave the scene as gracefully as you might think. Instead of walking away in silence, we’ll give you some ideas on how to respectfully let others know what’s going on – and perhaps reassure some. It’s not pretty, but it’s understandable that when a situation becomes unpleasant or unacceptable, you don’t want to openly insult or offend someone by telling them that it’s not about you, it’s about them. And just to be clear, if you’re afraid this person is a creep, there are no rules except that you should only do what you think is safe. Now you’re a candidate for a position, but you’ve decided you don’t want it. At this point, we’d be guilty of two things if we didn’t consider: if this is someone you have a history with and care about, you obviously need to have a more detailed conversation with them than we can lay out here. Another scenario: you meet someone for a cup of coffee, take a walk by the lake, laugh at their jokes, see the concern in their eyes, and conclude that’s all you need to do with them. Scenario: Someone offers you a particular job, but you don’t know if you want it. The key is to be polite, leave the door open for other opportunities, and give people time to move on to the next candidate. After careful consideration, I have come to the conclusion that it is not appropriate on my part to continue the application process, and I am respectfully withdrawing my application. That’s fine, and it’s not the same as bringing it on. It’s an underrated skill: finding the right words to politely walk out of a situation or relationship without becoming a “ghost.” Maybe I’m wrong, but it seems to me that you’re interested in something I’m not. I don’t want there to be an unpleasant relationship between us, so I wanted to be honest. Thank you for taking the time to review my application and tell me more about the position. Again, you can keep a low profile and pretend to be invisible when meeting in public. Even if you’ve never heard the term “ghosting,” you’ve probably encountered it – and perhaps experienced it personally.